My failure to get to sleep was interrupted by a faint tapping on my door, before it squeaked open. The noise was hardly audible over the sound of rain crashing down on the roof above me.
"Hey, Renzo, you awake?" Arrow whispered loudly.

"Hmm mhh." I replied. I heard the door close, and footsteps approach me.
"What the fuck's the time?" I whispered at him.

"Er.. around one I'm guessing?" He replied.

"Why aren't you asleep?" I asked him, as he sat down on my bed.

"The weather, what about you?" He replied.

"What about the weather?" I ignored his question, hearing the rain lash at the windows, the wind shaking the shutters in a bid to get in.

"Well, I'm meant to be out in it, ravaging the land and all that." Arrow whispered. I snorted slightly. "What?" He asked.

"Dunno." I shrugged in the darkness. "You just seem too nice for that."

"Trust me, I can be a right animal." He said, and we both started laughing. "Shh you'll wake the others." He hissed, silencing me by kissing me. "So why can't you sleep?" He asked.

"Thinking." I shrugged.

"About me?" He smiled.

"Like you'd be so lucky." I smirked, once again avoiding answering his question. "Now go to bed and sleep okay? It's just some rain."

He smiled, almost sadly, and stood up. "Night Renzo."

"Night Arrow." I replied. "Sleep well."

"You too." He nodded, before leaving. I turned over, looking at the wall and sighing. I wasn't going to get any decent sleep, and I knew it. Thinking about Luca did that to me. I couldn't stop thinking, and over thinking.

I woke up to the unusual sight of sunlight streaming through my skylights. I knew it wouldn't last long, so I jumped out of bed, pulling on a jumper as I ran downstairs, and knocked on Arrow's bedroom door. "Come on, let's get going." I said.

"Someone's keen." He smiled, opening his door wider when he saw who it was. He was only wearing shorts, and a wide smile.
"You're blushing again." He noted.

"Am not." I said.

"Getting hot and bothered about my bare chest?" Arrow smirked. "You should see me naked." He winked.

"Technically, I have." I smirked, as he wandered around his room, finding his clothes. He hadn't shut the door, and I lent against the door frame, watching him subconsciously, until he was stood in front of me, fully dressed. "Now, get down to the barn."

He paused in the kitchen, taking up Teo's offer of toast. "Have a great day!" He told her, roughing up her blonde hair like an older brother. She tried to scowl, but was smiling too much.
Arrow followed me into the tack room. "So, what's on the menu for today?"

"Swapping the cavesson for a saddle, and hopefully riding by this afternoon, if you're ok with everything."

"I'd throw you if I wasn't." He smiled.

"Encouraging." I replied. "Now go get changed."

He laughed. "Someone's keen to get me out of my clothes." He smirked, messing with my hair the same as he had with Teo.

I, however, managed to scowl properly. "Get out of here, Equus." I growled.

Arrow smiled. "Hmm, keep bossing me around." He smirked suggestively, running a hand up my jumpered back when I turned round to reach the side reins.

"I'll use a whip." I threatened.

"Oohhh." Arrow smirked even more.

"Go on, get out." I smiled, pushing him gently outside before picking up the bridle. "You have until I get there!"
Fortunately, it didn't take long for him to change back into a horse, and by the time I got into the barn, he was standing there on all four hooves, apearing bored.
"Oh, shh." I smiled, tacking him up, but leaving out the saddle.

Not before long, I swapped in the saddle as promised.
"You okay if I get on?" I asked gently, having lunged him with the saddle for a while, tightening the girth every so often.
He looked at me, and I could almost hear the 'obviously'.

I swapped the reins and easily climbed up, finally properly riding an Aqua Equus, not bareback through the night.

"Okay, Arrow, let's see how you do." I said, walking him around the barn. I then got him to trot, rising in the saddle in time to his steps. "Outside?" I asked him, and he headed towards the barn door.
"Pretend to be a little bit wild." I said, "At least when we pass people."

He looked at me, then pulled at the reins. "Good enough." I shrugged, opening a field gate for us to pass through. We cantered around the empty field, the sun rapidly disappearing behind the clouds as time got on. It reappeared the other side, just as I urged Arrow into a gallop.
We flew around the field, and I headed him towards the fence. "Ready to jump?" I asked, and he took it in his stride. A minibus rattled towards us down the track, but Arrow was undisturbed, and jumped the next fence with ease, getting out of the vehicle's way just in time.
We raced through that field, horses moving out of our way to let us pass.

I pulled Arrow up just before he jumped the last fence. "Sorry." I muttered. "But I'm not letting you go down to the beach." I turned him back towards the yard. "Back to exercises in the barn." I explained. "Lucifer has to deal with it, and so do you."

We went through exercises in the barn, and I dropped a couple of cones in the middle for him to practice weaving between.
"A-H-B-E" I directed him, after we'd gone through the cones.
Between H and B, something went wrong. With no warning, he reared suddenly, and violently, leaving me to hold on for dear life.
"Arrow!" I shouted. "Stop!"
His hooves landed on the ground, and I turned him in circles in the hopes of calming him down.

I then noticed the cause of his actions. A couple of kids were stood by the door of the barn.
"Get out!" I shouted. They looked at each other, shrugged, and remained where they were.
"Get out of here! This horse is dangerous!" I shouted, having to revert to Greek to get the message across.

"How dangerous?" One of the boys replied.

"Arrow." I hissed.
On cue, he bucked, and I struggled to get him under control. Although one word would have done it in a second, but I needed the kids to leave.
Arrow kicked one of the cones over, baring his teeth at the kids.

"Very!" I replied. "Ever heard of the Aqua Equus, you idiots?"

Obviously they had, and backed out of the barn.

"You can stop now, Arrow." I said, patting his neck gently. He was sweating slightly, sea foam lightly dusting his neck.
I slipped off, taking off my hat, and his tack, before bolting the small door that everyone had used to interrupt us. The large barn doors at either end were kept locked.

"You can get changed now." I said, still facing the door.

"Pity, I enjoyed that." Arrow smiled. I almost turned round at his voice, but stopped myself. "Hey, Ren." He said, his voice closer to my ear.

"Don't- don't call me that." I muttered.

He slung an arm around my shoulders. "Why not?"

I turned, noticing how once again he was only wearing shorts. "You don't like clothes, do you?" I noticed.

"Not used to them." He shrugged. "Well, not really." He stopped. "Well.."

"I get the gist." I muttered, smirking slightly.

"So, why not?" He asked, referencing his previous question. I sighed, trying to distract him obviously hadn't worked well enough.

"Luca.." I whispered.

"Ah." Arrow said, hugging me. The weather was getting colder, and he was only in shorts, but he was warm. "So, you better do something with Lucifer today, hmm?" He muttered, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Probably." I shrugged, leaning into him slightly. "I really doubt they'll need him for the idiot school kids." I smiled, and turned to face Arrow. "Well done with noticing them."

"I heard them first." He shrugged. "I take it I won't be able to take Stay Calm or Sea Dragon?"

"Probably not." I said. "They won't use the racers, but they're kind of out of your league.. sorry." I thought for a second. "We can put an astride saddle on Brontë."

"Or I can try side saddle." He smiled, tapping me on the nose. I shook my head, my hair flying everywhere, trying to get rid of his finger. Fortunately, I succeeded, but also succeeded in making him laugh.

I left the tack on the railing, and we headed over to the tack room once Arrow had pulled on the rest of his clothes. "You sure about the side saddle?" I asked.

"Actually no, as I've never done it before, and you have to be paying attention to Lucifer, but I was just telling you that I could, if I wanted." Arrow said, still smiling. I shrugged, and handed him Brontë's normal saddle.
Brontë was a pretty strawberry roan with no Aqua Equus blood. She was Sara's horse, and so wasn't ridden by members of the public, but Sara was fine with us taking her out.
We tacked her up quickly, with Arrow actually able to help slightly with easier parts. I then cleaned Lucifer's bit, and got him tacked up as well. He fortunately didn't seem to notice, or at least mind, that Arrow had been wearing his tack.

When we walked our horses out of the barn, there was still a crowd of kids in the yard.
A couple, obviously remembering the incident in the barn, backed away from Lucifer, evidently mistaking him for Arrow.
Meanwhile, the real Aqua Equus and his horse received a lot of attention, as Arrow allowed the kids to pet Brontë. The irony made me smile privately.

I stood by the corner of the yard, waiting for him.
"Couldn't understand a word they were saying." He smiled when they finally joined me. "But they didn't seem to like you very much."

"They mistook Lucifer for you, I think." I shrugged. "Come on, race you to the beach."

I knew I was playing a dangerous game, taking him down there, but I didn't care.
I didn't miss Arrow's knowing smirk, but I ignored it.

We raced down the hill, over fences and through fields, the bridleways disappearing from under us and being replaced by sand. I pulled Lucifer up short once we were on the beach, turning to watch Arrow and Brontë race up behind us, kicking up sand as they came.
The good weather meant that, fortunately, aside from us, the beach was horse free.

Arrow glanced at the sea, which was still grey and angry looking. I rode up beside him, our knees clashing together. "If you want to, just make sure you come back, alright?" I asked. "You were the easiest one to train, and I don't want to go through it all again with one that wants to kill me."

Arrow smiled. "I'm not disappearing yet." He muttered, leaning over to kiss me.
I kept one hand on Lucifer's reins, but the other moved to the back of Arrow's head. His hair was short and felt like a soft cat, and it made me smile.

We broke apart, and he grinned. "Can I do that again?" He asked, and I nodded. "Good." He whispered.

"Arrow?" I asked, having broken the kiss to stop Lucifer from wandering off.

"Yeah, what?" He asked, looking at the horizon. "I wish I could show it to you, Renzo." He muttered.

"Show what?" I asked.

"The sea. My home. The trench." He said, tearing his eyes away from the sea. "Race to that boulder."

I nodded, and we were off down the beach.
He won, but not by much. "What do I get for winning?" He asked.

"The knowledge that you won?" I shrugged, before grinning. "Joking. C'm here." I kissed him lightly, and then lay back on Lucifer, grinning slightly. The sun was behind a cloud, but the light was still bright in my eyes. A shadow fell across my face, and I opened an eye to see Arrow smiling down at me from Brontë. "Do you want me to hold her whilst you swim?"

"I- if you're sure." He grinned. "Know where I can get changed?"

"There's a couple caves around the headland." I said, closing my eyes again.

"Or.. not." Arrow said, and I could hear the smirk. Brontë's reins were put into my hand, and I took them without looking over. The leather was old, worn and soft, and comforting. Brontë nickered, making me smile.

Another horse snorted, and I cracked open an eye. "Hey, Arrow." I said, sitting up. He looked at me briefly, and galloped into the sea, throwing up sand and water. I smiled at him playing in the surf, but didn't let Lucifer follow him. Instead, I sat there watching until he finally rose out of the water, looking as if he was grinning. The sea water streamed off him, sand clinging to his hooves, a small amount of seaweed in his mane.

I closed my eyes again, until he spoke. "You don't need to be so shy." Arrow said, pulling a t-shirt over his soaking chest. It flapped in the wind and he must have been freezing cold.
I picked the seaweed out of his hair, as he shivered slightly.

Sighing, I pulled off my black hoodie and handed it down to him.
"Thanks." He said, surprised, his eyes drawn to the ink on my arms.

"Don't mention it." I said. "Really, don't." He nodded, understanding what I meant, but still unable to look away.
I handed him Brontë's reins, and we headed back to the farm.

After untacking and brushing down the horses, we found ourselves sat on my bed.
Arrow's eyes kept wandering over to the ink still visible on my bare arms.
"The scythe's for my mother." I said quietly. "Roses were her favourite flower. The stars are for Luca."

Arrow nodded, but thankfully remained silent.

"The horse was the horse she always rode, and the wings are because my father often has wings."

"Wings?" Arrow asked.

"Never mind." I shrugged. "Can I have my jumper back?"

He nodded, taking if off and handing it to me. I yawned suddenly, and he smiled. "Didn't get much sleep in the end then?" He asked. I shook my head.
"Then sleep." He insisted. "I'll do your chores."

"It's fine." I shrugged through a yawn.

"No it's not." He pushed me gently down onto the bed. "Now sleep." He whispered, kissing me lightly before standing up.

When I woke up, it was pitch black outside. I sat up to check my phone, and shivered, instantly regretting stripping down to just boxers before falling asleep.
Suddenly, I froze. I'd heard someone else breath.

I flicked the lights on immediately, darting back to bed to stay warm. Arrow yawned. "Is it time to get up?" He asked, drowsy, sitting up. He must have fallen asleep on the rug.

"Why the fuck are you in here?" I asked.

"Well I sat here considering whether I should wake you, and then- nothing." He shrugged.

"Why were you going to wake me?" I asked.

"I'd saved you dinner." He smiled. "Guess it'd be cold now though."

"Doesn't matter." I smiled. He shivered slightly. "You must be freezing. Go on, come on in here."

Arrow smiled. "You sure?"

"Don't let me change my mind." I shrugged. "Offer's going in three- two- on-" he landed on the bed next to me, smiling at me like the idiot he was. "Now go to sleep Arrow." I smiled, turning my back to him, and facing the wall.

His cold hands traced the ink on my back. "You really do have wings don't you?" He said.

"Yeah." I shrugged. "Now go to sleep."

"I like them." He continued.

His lips pressed gently against my shoulder, his arms snaking around my chest. I looked at his arm covering the ink on my ribs. "Way to make me feel like a vampire." I joked.

"What?" He asked, smiling over my shoulder.

"Nothing." I whispered.

"You don't need me to make you look like a vampire, you're so pale." He laughed. "But it's cute, in a way." He smiled. "And I like hugging you so get used to it."

"Fuck you." I muttered in response.

"Yeah, fuck me." He replied quietly.

I elbowed him lightly, covering his darker arms with my paper white ones. "Night Arrow."

"Technically I think it's morning." He said, laughter in his tired voice.

"Go to sleep, Arroyo." I muttered.

"Arrow." He corrected. "I'm human. Arroyo's the Equus that drags people down. Arrow's the boy sleeping in other boy's beds."

"How many boy's beds you slept on then?" I asked.

"Just this one." He whispered.

"Well at least you probably don't have high expectations." I muttered, half asleep.

He pressed a kiss to my neck. "Sleep well."

"You too." I muttered as I fell asleep.
There were no dreams. No nightmares. No monsters or deaths or Luca. Just the warmth of Arrow's arms even as I slept.

I woke up, still up in his embrace. Panic rose in my throat until I realised that it was only Arrow keeping me pinned down. I slowly unlaced his fingers, and slipped from his grasp.
I pulled on my clothes, and jogged down the stairs, pulling on boots at the door, and heading out into the slight drizzle. Alessa was mucking out, and I joined her.
"So." She smiled, leaning on the shovel in her hands. "Did Arrow wake you up, or did you two sleep together?"

I ignored her, tying hay nets up for the horses. Alessa sighed, and turned back to the task in hand.
I had realised that I was two different people. The quiet, introverted Renzo around most people, but around Arrow, I was loud, sarcastic. I smiled around him. He saw the Renzo that Luca had seen. The unbroken kid who had something to fight for. Someone.
Except this time I'd already been broken. My family was gone, and I had no one left.
No one except Arrow.
Standing in the rain, brushing mud out of the yard. Very different from my life with my sister. But I guessed that she would have been proud of me. Even if I had only opened up to one person.
Not even a person, not really. Arroyo. An animal in the guise of a person.
But I loved him all the same.